SQLAuthority News – Attending SQLskills Training in February 2013

If you read my resolutions blog post, you know that one of my dreams is to learn more, and specifically to attend a SQL Server class. Paul Randal and Kimberly Tripp, along with fantastic people like Jonathan, Glenn, Erin and Joe, runs amazing organization SQLskills. It is one of the most premium training companies. I have dreamed about attending for many years, but could not for many reasons. The reasons why I couldn’t are not the point, today the point is why I want to attend.

First of all – how long will you wait for a dream to come true? People say “this is my dream, that is my dream,” and after a while the words become cheap and don’t mean anything. When there is something you really want to do, sometimes there are many reasons, and sometimes the accomplishment is actually the dream. No matter your reasons, big or small, you have to chase that dream, even if it takes years to come true. The goal should not be that you want to accomplish your dreams someday, but that you want it to become true no matter what. Don’t delay, don’t procrastinate on your dream.

For a dream to come true, you might have to pay a certain price, but it’s worth it. The dream is not to save money or waste time; the dream is to achieve your goals. When your dream comes true you aren’t going to look back and miss all those vacation days you used, the reward is the satisfaction of reaching a goal. The reward can even be better than you had ever dreamed of.

My dream was to attend SQLskills training. I posted this in my recent 2013 Resolutions blog post, and as soon as I had typed it, I knew that I couldn’t wait. My dream was to attend sometime in 2013, but why wait a whole year? Why delay? I looked up the next SQLskills class, and the first class of the year is February 4 in Tampa, Florida. This is a long way to travel from India. But I would not let this daunt me. The first man to climb Mt. Everest didn’t think to himself “The peak is too high, there is no way I can go,” and Neil Armstrong didn’t say “No one has gone to the moon, so I can’t get there either.” And for me, attending this class in Florida is my own personal Mt. Everest summit, my personal first step on the moon. For me, attending a SQLskills class what that big of a dream.

So, I had accomplished the first step in realizing my dream – I had identified the goal: SQLskills Training at Tampa, Florida in Februrary. Right now I am feeling very excited. The class is on performance tuning – my favorite subject. Four years ago, I decided that I wanted to start learning new things, and I chose performance tuning. I began studying blogs to learn these skills. When I started, there were only a few blogs dealing with performance tuning, and one of them was SQLskills. The level was so high that at that point I couldn’t understand most of it. The desire to learn was strong, though, so I decided to learn from the tuning guru in person. If there is one misstep I would see in my career, it was that I should have attended one of his courses earlier in my career! If I had attended long ago, I would have been a different person, and I might have made more optimal decisions. I am not going to regret my choices or give excuses as now I am going to attend the course in person.

My decision now is that if I am going to travel all the way to the US to attend a course, I am going to get the maximum experience I can. So I am going to do two courses: Immersion Experience 1 and Immersion Experience 2. Two courses, back to back. It is a lot, and I can’t wait. I just have to do it – I made the resolution on January 1st, and I want it to come true. I have the hotel booked, the tickets are purchased, and my registration is completed. I am doing my homework. I am even pre-learning through Pluralsight so that I know I get the most out of my two courses. I am planning so that I get the maximum out of my dream. I am going to enjoy myself – but I am not doing this for fun. This is not a vacation, it is an investment. You can’t mess with your dream and only go halfway. My dream is the get the maximum out of this course, and through that experience I know I will be happy, learn more, and grow my career. SQLskills, here I come!

Congratulations! I attended several of Paul and Kimberly’s sessions @ SQLConnections in Las Vegas last November and enjoyed them thoroughly. To attend their immersion classes is a dream of mine too. Thanks for the inspiration!

You will love it. I attended IE1 and 2 last year in Atlanta and Tampa. I’ve been using SQL Server since it was Sybase and attended several classes over the years but Paul’s and Kimberley’s SQLSkills training is the best! You will be exhausted at the end of each day but will have learned more than you ever thought possible. Have fun!

Pinal Dave is a technology enthusiast and an independent consultant. He has authored 11 SQL Server database books, 21 Pluralsight courses and have written over 3800 articles on the database technology on his blog at a http://blog.sqlauthority.com. Along with 14+ years of hands on experience he holds a Masters of Science degree and a number of database certifications. For any SQL Server Performance Tuning Issue send email at pinal @ sqlauthority.com .

Nupur Dave is a social media enthusiast and and an independent consultant.